This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on March 2, 2018 - March 8, 2018

KUALA LUMPUR: myNEWS Holdings Bhd executive director and chief operating officer (COO) Dang Tai Wen (pic) has been promoted to deputy chief executive officer (CEO) of the group.

He is the brother to Dang Tai Luk, the executive director and CEO of myNEWS, and its non-independent non-executive director Dang Tai Hock. Tai Wen was appointed to the board of directors on April 25, 2013.

In a statement yesterday, myNEWS said Tai Wen, 44, will be leading development of new markets, myNEWS customised label products and expansion of the group’s convenience retail presence locally and abroad.

“He will build upon the ongoing work in new markets capacity building, growth segments and operational efficiencies,” it added.

Tai Wen has been managing the group for 21 years in various areas including overseeing the operations of all outlets, branding concepts, project development, store designs and planning.

myNEWS has appointed Akito Nakatsuma to replace Tai Wen in the COO role. The 53-year-old Japanese comes with more than 14 years of business consulting experience in the retail and manufacturing sectors.

Prior to joining myNEWS, Akito was the executive vice-president of Poplar convenience stores in Japan, leading its business transformation for five years.

“In his new role, he will be in-charge of operations of all outlets, merchandising, information technology infrastructure, distribution and logistics, growth markets and business development of the group,” said myNEWS.

The group also announced the appointment of Azizah Mohamed as general manager of regulatory compliance and administration. In her new role, she will be in-charge of compliance and regulatory matters for the group and administration.

Azizah comes with more than 32 years of experience with the government in industry development, having served the Malaysian Investment Development Authority and Halal Industry Development Corp.